Wednesday, November 16, 2016

US President-elect Donald Trump, who called climate change a "hoax," may dramatically alter the path set by the Obama administration on reductions of emission, leaving the fate of climate-change research uncertain.

Global warming has caused sea levels to increase by 3.2 millimeters per year, threatening infrastructure and ecosystems, according to a new report published in Science, which called for more research into adaptations to sea-level increases, and for reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.

POSSIBLE WITHDRAWAL FROM PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT

Trump has been a long-term skeptic of climate change. During his presidential campaign, Trump vowed to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, which was inked in December, 2015 and came into force last week. The agreement, signed by more than 180 countries, aimed to hold increases in the global average temperature below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, by pledging to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

Responding to concerns that Trump may "cancel" the Paris Agreement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Monday the deal was a result of concerted efforts of all parties, including China and the United States.[Xinhua/globaltimes.cn]

EL Kaos UT

The UN has imposed a 2013 deadline for the submission of scientific claims to the Arctic seabed. It is the precursor to a resource boom which would see Canada, the US, Russia, Norway and Greenland all attempt to exploit the region's resources.